Introduction
The rapid development of technologies has led not only to numerous breakthroughs in various spheres of people’s lives but also to significant issues related to the inability of some individuals to limit their time spent on gadget use. Whereas the Internet has presented an opportunity for communication and research, it has also become the reason why too many users have become dependent on it. The selected topic of research is the addiction to online gaming among adults. This kind of addiction does not produce such a devastating effect on one’s health as the excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs. However, online gaming addiction poses other threats, which are no less serious both for the addicts and their close ones. Researchers have presented evidence on the severity of online gaming addiction (Marino & Spada, 2017). However, too many people continue to neglect the issue’s potential adverse outcomes. Therefore, more research is needed to investigate the problem from different angles, which will ensure viable solutions to it. The present paper is an overview of scholarly sources on online gaming addiction and the analysis of narrative inquiry as the most suitable qualitative research method to use for the investigation of this problem.
The Problem of Interest
Despite the constant development and enhancement of community resources and entertainment opportunities, the number of individuals addicted to online gaming is growing annually. What previously used to be viewed merely as a leisure activity has now become to be considered a serious threat due to its potential to provoke addiction in users. Online gaming is related to social and psychological problems by facilitating self-regulation deficiency (Gong et al., 2019). Furthermore, the age of gamers has increased considerably, and the activity is no longer regarded as a teenage male hobby (Pietersen et al., 2018). Whereas in the past, playing video games online, was considered a useless pastime, at present, it has become an important part of many people’s lifeworlds. The increasing popularity of online gaming is associated with the idea that video games are “richly expressive and creative,” and they grant people a much more immersive experience than other media forms do (Pietersen et al., 2018, p. 123). Therefore, one of the core aims in performing current research is to enhance the understanding of people’s likelihood to engage in online gaming addiction.
Another rationale for selecting the problem is the need to analyze the possible ways of solving a growing issue of online game addiction among the population. Typically, game addicts are male individuals who report unique experiences related to their gaming activity and a high rate of engagement as the triggers of addiction (Tang et al., 2017). However, the problem affects not only those directly involved in it but also anyone they interact with within their personal, professional, social, and family lives. As Marino and Spada (2017) note, there is too little evidence on the positive and negative aspects of online gaming. Thus, it is crucial to analyze the available research to synthesize what has already been found and single out questions for further detailed research.
The Qualitative Research Method to Be Used
Taking into consideration the nature of the problem under investigation, the most suitable qualitative research method to employ in the study is narrative inquiry. This method involves the process of collecting data from respondents through storytelling. The study of the narrative becomes the means of understanding how people perceive the world and various situations in their lives. The self-narrative construction is manifested both in the content and form of narratives (Androutsopoulou & Stefanoua, 2018). According to Lieblich et al., there are two core dimensions for interpreting and scrutinizing narratives: “holistic versus categorical” and “content versus form” (as cited in Androutsopoulou & Stefanoua, 2018, p. 130). The most beneficial approach to employing a narrative inquiry analysis is a holistic one. The holistic-content dimension implies that the researcher should use the whole life story of an individual, which allows focusing on emerging topics. Meanwhile, the holistic-content mode presupposes that researchers look inside the structure of a respondent’s life story (Androutsopoulou & Stefanoua, 2018). As a result, the use of narrative inquiry helps to understand people’s attitudes toward the events happening in their lives and the ways they feel about them.
The selected research method enables scholars to focus on respondents’ thoughts about their lives rather than on events happening. When one tells a researcher about his or her experiences, the latter becomes “narratives as part of inquiry” and makes the audience “vicarious” participants of these experiences (Chen, 2019, p. 382). Overall, narrative inquiry enables receiving valuable and reliable first-hand information about the researched issues and problems.
The Review of Literature
Benefits and Limitations of the Selected Research Design
As a research design, a narrative inquiry has several advantages and disadvantages that should be considered before utilizing it. The major benefit undoubtedly is the possibility to receive information from the respondent openly, honestly, and without bias. Narrative inquiry is considered the most suitable way of uncovering and understanding people’s complex problems (James, 2018). Another strength of the selected research design is the likelihood of improving people’s well-being by allowing them to express their thoughts and apprehensions (Ho et al., 2020). Furthermore, narrating personal experience equals making sense of it (Ho et al., 2020). In the case of online gamers, the use of narrative inquiry enables researchers to understand “what it means to be a gamer” (Pietersen et al., 2018, p. 123). What concerns limitations, it must be acknowledged that personal narratives cannot be void of subjectivity without the opportunity to check the information given by respondents. Another problem is that the selected research design is not suitable for investigations involving a large number of participants. Finally, there is always a challenge of the researcher’s wrong interpretation of the data given by respondents.
The Evaluation of the Selected Software Analysis Program
Electronic analysis of research data has been commonly associated with quantitative methods. However, one must admit the presence of a sufficient amount of software for qualitative data analysis. Still, despite their availability, these tools are not favored by qualitative research specialists, the most probable reason for it being the difficulty of mastering the software (Zamawe, 2015). In the present study, the software analysis program to be utilized is NVivo. This program is aimed not so much at analyzing the collected data but at aiding the process of analysis (Zamawe, 2015). NVivo is a popular data management program that has such features as multimedia functions, rich text capabilities, and character-based coding. Furthermore, the program incorporates built-in facilities enabling individuals from different geographical areas to operate the same information files simultaneously via a network.
Another benefit of NVivo is in its high level of compatibility of the program with research designs. Since NVivo is not “methodological-specific,” it can be utilized with a variety of qualitative research designs and data analysis methods, including ethnography, grounded theory, literature reviews, discourse analysis, phenomenology, conversation analysis, and mixed methods (Zamawe, 2015, p. 13). NVivo has been available since the 1980s, but only a small amount of researchers have utilized it. Zamawe (2015) notes that despite some limitations, the program is rather useful, and, hence, underestimated. For instance, an evident advantage of NVivo is “easy, effective and efficient coding,” making the retrieval process easier (Zamawe, 2015, p. 14). The program also enables scholars to gather information across sources to group the material that is related (Dollah et al., 2017). Apart from easy data management, NVivo offers such advantages as simplicity in finding topics, the opportunity to save time, and the simplification of data classification.
At the same time, it is necessary to admit some drawbacks of the system. For instance, researchers admit that NVivo may present difficulty processing audio files (Zamawe, 2015). Furthermore, the program requires much time to master (Dollah et al., 2017). Also, NVivo may be expensive for researchers, as well as may present complications when attempting to interpret data (Dollah et al., 2017). Still, taking into consideration all advantages and disadvantages of NVivo and bearing in mind the purpose of the present research, it is relevant to use the selected software for the simplification of data analysis in the process of work on the research problem.
Validity Threats of the Selected Qualitative Design
As with any qualitative research design, narrative inquiry meets threats to validity. There are two major dimensions in which the selected method’s validity may be undermined. Firstly, there may arise the problem of a disparity between individuals’ experiences and the stories they tell about these experiences (Wang & Geale, 2015). Secondly, there may emerge wrong connections between the stories told and the interpretations of these stories. In case of any of these two issues, the validity of research will inevitably suffer. To avoid these common problems, the researcher has to make sure that participants understand the purpose of the study and are aware of the need to be precise and objective about their narratives. On the other hand, the researcher also should do his or her best to remain impartial and help respondents to uncover their stories in a logical and untwisted way.
Potential Ethical Issues
When considering narrative inquiry as a research design, ethical issues are probably the most significant ones to be addressed. The main problem that may arise is that sharing one’s experiences may turn into something more personal than mere information exchange (Caine et al., 2019). As a result, by the end of the research, investigators may develop a too friendly relationship with or treatment of their respondents. Another potential ethical issue is that researchers place the narratives of the participants within a larger narrative, which means that scholars are imposing meaning on respondents’ experiences. Consequently, there may arise the problem of misinterpretation of data. The next ambiguous issue is the subjectivity of the study on the part of a researcher (Caine et al., 2019). Because some of the personal narratives are ambiguous, it is impossible to rule out researchers’ assessment of the situations, through the prism of which respondents’ narrations may be altered from what they were meant to uncover initially.
To minimize the risk of the mentioned ethical issues in the current research, the following steps will be taken. Firstly, the researchers will make it a rule not to become too close or friendly with the participants to remain as objective as possible throughout the whole process of the study. Secondly, the researcher will listen to the narratives attentively and ask clarifying questions if needed, which will enable avoiding misinterpretations. Finally, at all stages of the research project, the researcher will refrain from offering a personal assessment of situations described by participants. By following these steps, it will become possible to avoid the most viable ethical concerns.
Summary of Research
Research on the topic of online gaming addiction available so far is rich in directions of investigation. Scholars have analyzed individuals’ disposition toward engaging in online gaming (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2018; Pietersen et al., 2018; Tang et al., 2017), the desire for online group gaming (Gong et al., 2019), and dysfunctional cognitions associated with Internet gaming disorder (Marino & Spada, 2017). These and other topics of research allowed for an in-depth understanding of the research question, but they have not answered all the questions related to online gaming addictions.
A positive connection between individuals’ loyalty toward online game addiction has been found. The findings reveal that addiction to online mobile games is associated with game loyalty (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2018). Furthermore, scholars report a positive relationship between online gaming addiction and the tendency to purchase mobile in-game applications. Finally, researchers have investigated that online gaming loyalty boosts players’ desire to buy online game applications. However, researchers failed to provide a discussion of how these processes evolve.
A study by Gong et al. (2019) has resulted in finding a positive correlation between the desire for playing online games and addiction to this activity. Additionally, the authors have found that the desire for group gaming is connected with people’s social identities, expected enjoyment, and specific attitudes. However, the research lacks generalizability since Gong et al. (2019) have analyzed only one type of social game played online. Meanwhile, each online game has its unique features aimed at supporting specific social ties, which can have different effects on players’ predisposition toward becoming addicted to playing.
Marino and Spada (2017) have examined the peculiarities of the gaming disorder with the help of a narrative review, which makes this study especially valuable in light of the selected topic and research design. Scholars report that online gaming-associated dysfunctional conditions are numerous, and their quantity increases with the growth of the industry. Marino and Spada (2017) remark that it is crucial to differentiate between dysfunctional cognitions and metacognitions in Internet gaming disorder. Implications for future research based on these findings include the comparison between dysfunctional cognitions and metacognitions to find effective evidence-based treatment for online gaming addictive individuals.
The findings of Tang et al.’s (2017) research suggest that males are usually more addicted to online games than women, whereas females are more predisposed to online social networking addiction. Pietersen et al.’s (2018) study has resulted in invaluable insights into what it is to be a gamer based on online gaming addicts’ narratives. Whereas these studies have addressed some of the aspects of online gaming and the development of addiction to it, more thorough research is needed in various dimensions of the research topic.
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